Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 19 January 2021
Mr Findlay clearly has not been following the debate. We did a data collection exercise with local government last summer, which identified 70,000 young people who did not have digital connectivity. We therefore put money in place that enabled 70,000 young people to get digital connectivity, and we continue to engage with local authorities on that question. That deals directly, and firmly, with Mr Findlay’s particular point.
Looking at the question of commencement, I acknowledge the significance of the committee’s point in relation to commencement timetables. I will also address some of the issues that Alex Cole-Hamilton put on the record, because, as is often the case with Mr Cole-Hamilton, things are not always as he sets out to the Parliament. In relation to the commencement of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019, the first set of commencement regulations came into effect on 29 November 2019, removing the offence ground for referring a child under 12 to a children’s hearing and commencing provisions for victims. Since then, it has been possible to refer a child under 12 to a children’s hearing only on welfare and protection grounds, which means that it has not been possible since the end of 2019 for children under 12 to obtain criminal convictions. To all intents and purposes, therefore, the age of criminal responsibility is, in effect, 12.
A complex set of regulations has to be put in place. The second set of regulations was put in place on 30 March 2020 and the third set on 30 November 2020, and part 1 of the 2019 act will be commenced as part of the final set of commencement regulations that are planned for autumn 2021.